Sumui House by TCA: Reviving a Dormitory into a Poetic Artist’s Residence in Sinan-gun, South Korea

Nestled in the serene rural landscape of South Korea’s Taepyung Salt Farm, the Sumui House by TCA is a sensitive transformation of a 35-year-old dormitory into a meditative residence for artists. Designed for the Art Like Salt artist-in-residence program, the project embodies an architectural narrative of preservation, renewal, and cultural memory.

Once a half-ruined shelter for salt farm workers, the building stood quietly beside reeds and a creek, bearing the patina of time. Instead of erasing its past, the architects were tasked with retaining the emotional and material traces of the original structure—transforming it into a dignified dwelling space for creative reflection.

Material Narrative Rooted in Context

The identity of Sumui House is deeply tied to the landscape and salt farm vernacular. A defining inspiration came from the 60-year-old pine-clad salt warehouses that stand weathered along the salt fields—blackened by years of sea winds and salt air. Embracing this language, charred wood cladding was selected as the primary façade material, echoing the rugged textures of its surroundings.

Given the project’s remote site and reliance on local, non-expert labor, the construction employed accessible materials such as concrete blocks, steel pipes, and plywood—all adaptable to handcrafted, site-based construction.

A Play of Rhythm, Volume, and Functionality

The architectural intervention introduces concrete block fins aligned vertically across the long façade. These create a rhythmic counterpoint to the building's horizontal mass and also serve to reinforce the structural lateral load. Corrugated metal sheets top the existing roof, their thin, exposed edges lending lightness and subtle tension to the solid volume.

Internally, the spatial layout retains the existing dormitory structure, but each unit now includes a kitchen and bathroom, making it self-contained. Windows were not just replaced but reimagined—a 1.6m x 1.6m frame projects outward, extending internal surfaces into usable window nooks, merging function with form.

An Expressive Threshold Between Past and Present

The communal lounge is created by combining two existing units, offering a flexible space for seminars, social gatherings, or intimate performances. At the entrance, the architects choreographed a layered reveal—removing portions of the outer wall to expose historical construction layers: concrete wall, steel pipes, and CMU blocks—a physical narrative of the building’s journey through time.

A custom manual roller shade allows occupants to engage in a subtle act of play: pulling strings around pins to form dynamic string figures—turning even mundane elements into interactive, poetic gestures. Likewise, bespoke light fixtures and handles are designed to respect and enrich the aged character of the space.

Sumui: A Word, A Form, A Feeling

The name Sumui (ㅅㅡㅁㅡㅣ) is a newly invented Korean word, phonetically and visually inspired by the geometry of the house itself—from its gabled roof to the rectangular window frames and rhythmic vertical walls. The word captures not just a place, but a spirit—a quiet, enduring presence that invites reflection, memory, and creation.